


The Miraculous Family Project

by BamBrixBam



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, Chloe is a great aunt, Dadrien, F/M, Mominette, Reveal, everyone knows but they're oblivious, reveal on Mari and Adrien's part
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-09-15 12:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9234635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BamBrixBam/pseuds/BamBrixBam
Summary: Adrien's back and coincidentally so is Cat Noir.Marinette is stubborn and doesn't see the connectionQueen Bee, Torte Verde and Volpina try to make them see the obvious.They just want Emma to have her dad.So they begin The Miraculous Family Project.





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> I was kinda inspired by Totally Lucky's "Unexpected Surprise". And the whole Chloe being redeemed arc is growing on me. I literally see her being that so-called fun aunt.  
> So enjoy!

 

Adrien Agreste had spent the last three years travelling abroad, promoting his father's company internationally by modelling and such. Now, he had just returned to Paris. As great as it was seeing the world, there was just something about coming back here. The mansion still felt lonely as ever, but his friends were here and so was the girl he'd fallen for years ago.

Last time he saw Ladybug, she told him she couldn't continue fighting and it had somehow led to an argument between them. The others in the group had decided to stay out of it and let them continue. He respected that they didn't come in on their business, but maybe if they did, things could've turned out better or not as bad as it ended. Which was both the original dynamic duo leaving the team. Neither Ladybug or Cat Noir were seen after that night and saving Paris fell onto Volpina, Queen Bee and Tortue Verde. Luckily there hadn't been any akumas in the last half decade. Maybe Hawk Moth gave up or was planning something worse and just seemed to be taking forever. Good news for now. Because who knew if the three could handle his akuma's alone? Adrien never doubted they could, but without Ladybug to purify the akuma, then there'd be no hope.

While away, he did keep up with the Ladyblog for a while, hoping to here news of his lady, but like Cat Noir, she was a no show. Although, on other forms of media, some people claimed to have spotted the heroine during the late hours of night. He wondered why Alya didn't place this on her blog. Now, all that was on her blog was just the current Miraculous team. Hardly any mention of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Last mention was not long after the two left the team and it was to answer the many questions of where they were.

Alya had responded with:

_“For once, I can't supply you with an answer. Even if I knew, it's probably not mine or anyone's place to know. Otherwise we would've had an answer by now. But, I believe one day we'll see them again.”_

 

And that was that. He knew exactly why he left. He was travelling, but also because he had been mad at her. He figured sometime away he might cool off. He did after the first couple of days, but by then it was too late and he couldn't go back home. The only reason he knew of why Ladybug left was, as she said, his fault. Okay, maybe she didn't say “It's your fault.” exactly, but she said it was because of him. What exactly had he done to get her to leave? Up until that night, things had been going fine between them. Well, no point dwindling in the past. He just had to look to the future and hope for the best.

While he was away, there wasn't much time to contact his friends. Last he heard of them, they had been in university. That was years ago and they would've graduated by now or be close to. They most likely didn't even know he was coming back today. If he could, he would've stayed in contact, but he had been kept busy and a lot of the times they tried talking, either of them were busy or the hours didn't work . So they eventually stopped.

As soon as he had landed in Paris, he called Nathalie to see if she could track his friends down. By the time he arrived at Agreste Manor, Nathalie had managed to tell him that Nino worked at some club as a DJ, Alya was currently an assistant at some magazine, most likely trying to work her way up to be a journalist and Marinette owned her own boutique. The closest seemed to be a particular blackette. He remembered at first, Marinette had been shy around him, but as the years went by, she became more and more confident around him. Even teasing him and giving him nicknames. Something that reminded him of how Ladybug was to him as Cat Noir.

 

* * *

 

 “First friend you see is your would be girlfriend?” Plagg teased as Adrien headed to the address where her store was. It was like her parents' bakery, the store was downstairs and above would be where she lived most likely.

He simply rolled his eyes at his kwami. At least he still had his kwami around. As annoying as Plagg could be, he had been better company than the people he had to work with and was the one thing that still reminded him of his old life. And on Marinette, he would've considered asking her, but his heart had been Ladybug's first and it felt like a betrayal. And when things didn't work out between him and Ladybug, he thought about asking her out, but he didn't think it seemed fair to Marinette. Asking someone out after getting your heart ripped out like that? It just didn't sit right with him. Marinette clearly deserved better. He briefly wondered if she had someone in her life now, but quickly shook the thought away because he didn't like the idea of seeing her with someone else. It was evening so her store was closed. It was called _La Coccinelle._ He found the name ironic for some reason. Hopefully she was home and wouldn't mind the company. He headed to the back where the main entrance to her apartment was and rang on the doorbell. When the door opened he was quite surprised to see who answered it. Where he was expecting Marinette, it was Chloe instead. The last person he'd expect to see here, given how their relationship was like in High School. He must have the wrong address or maybe Nathalie gave him the wrong one. There was no way Chloe could be in the same place as Marinette willingly. Answering her door even.

 

“Do my eyes deceive me or is it Adrikins?” her high voice questioned.

 

“Long time no see, Chlo.” he smiled sheepishly.

 

“What brings you here? Come to say hi to an old friend? It's only been five years. You haven't talked to me since high school.”

 

“You could say that.” he was technically here to see an old friend. Just not the one he was expecting. “Not to offend you, but do you have any idea where Mar...” before he could finish Chloe interrupted him.

 

“As much as I'd love to catch up, I got something to take care of upstairs, so you could either come back later or come in.”

 

“I guess a few minutes wouldn't hurt.” he shrugged and entered as she stepped out of his way to let him in. Chloe led him upstairs and into the main living place. This wasn't the place he'd expect her to live in. He remembered her always being spoiled and pampered. As decent as the place looked, this wasn't exactly Chloe's scene. “Nice place you got.” he commented.

 

“It's not exactly mine.” she told him. “I did help a bit with the decorating. But hey, make yourself comfortable.”

 

“You have a roommate?”

 

“Two, technically. And speaking of which, I gotta check on the one who's currently home.” she left him in the living and headed down the hall. When she came back, the last thing he expected was for Chloe to bring a toddler with shoulder length, black hair in her arms. But what was more surprising was that the little girl had a familiar set of green eyes. He'd seen those eyes on his mother's photos countless times and every time when he saw his own reflection.

 

Had Chloe gotten married and had a kid? She seemed to lack a ring, however and the child didn't have any of her features. She had someone else's features. Someone who he had originally planned to see, but at the moment he was too caught up in the little girl to recall.

 

“You have a kid?” he blinked.

 

Chloe merely laughed. “This little cutie isn't mine.” she tapped the girl's nose, which had few freckles scattered on it. “But I do love her as if she was. I'm her favourite Auntie _Chlobee._ ” when she saw his confused expression she merely shook her head amused. “She's still learning to talk. Chloe somehow ended up as Chlobee. And if you're wondering, she's Marinette's daughter. Little Emma. And someone just woke up from their nap.”

 

“Marinette's daughter?” he didn't know which news he could take. Chloe babysitting her rival's daughter or the fact that Marinette now had a family?

 

“Geeze, you look like a ghost just walked through you. But yeah. It's Marinette's turn to do grocery shopping, so I'm in charge. Although, this little _babee_ likes to think she is.”

 

“I feel like I missed a lot.” Adrien ran a hand through his hair. “I always remembered you and Marinette never really got along.”

 

“Times change and people grow up, Adrien.” Chloe said, placing Emma down in a playpen. “Let's just say, dad finally got annoyed of my bratty ways and cut me off to teach me a lesson. He did give me enough to find my own place and that was it. I was okay the first few months, but then I couldn't hold a job and lost the place I was renting. So here I am out in the street with my stuff and who happens to come by? Why, Marinette of course. Believe me, neither of us were thrilled about the idea, but she willingly offered me a place to stay until I could get back on my feet. And honestly, that was the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

 

“Why's that?” Adrien asked.

 

“Well, believe me, it was hard at first. But she got me working at her parents' bakery, which helped my resume. Then I got some part-time job at a cafe nearby, since I went back to college to take up design. Acing the class with Mari's help by the way and when daddy heard, he put me back on his will. Of course, he only gives me money if I really need it. Like if Marinette and I are a few dollars short for things. It's pretty much how she got the store and how we got this place. Told dad it was more for a friend than me and ta-da.”

 

It sounded like Chloe and Marinette had gotten close in the past couple of years. But her story didn't really explain Emma. She didn't even mention Emma's father?

 

“And Emma?”

 

“She was only three months when we met.” her eyes then widened in realisation. “You wanted to know about her father? Sorry, that's not my story to tell. And even if it was, couldn't tell you about him anyway.”

 

“How come?”

 

“Marinette doesn't like talking about it. You could ask her, but I doubt you'll get much of an answer.” her phone then beeped and she quickly went to answer it. “Okay, I gotta go down for a bit. Mind keeping an eye on Emma? Mari's downstairs and needs help with some of the bags.”

 

“I could help her out, instead.” he offered.

 

“And give her a heart attack? Does she even know you're here?”

 

“No one knows actually, besides father, Nathalie, the Gorilla and you.”

 

“Just watch Emma and I'll let her know you're here. And fair warning, she doesn't take kindly to strangers. You're lucky I trust you and her mom does too or she'd have both of our heads. Never would've left you with her otherwise.”

 

Before Adrien could ask what exactly he was supposed to do, Chloe had already left. He was okay with kids, but he never really took care of one on his own. Even if it was for a few minutes. The man made his way towards the young girl, who was currently playing with the Ladybug and Cat Noir dolls he remembered Marinette had made back in high school. The same ones Puppeteer used to control them.

 

“Hi!” he said awkwardly.

 

The toddler looked up and blinked at the stranger, who she only saw a couple of minutes ago when her aunt brought her in. She adorably stuck her lip out at him and frowned. Wow, Chloe was right about her not taking kindly to strangers.

 

“Okay. I get it. You don't know me. But I know your mom and your aunt... _Chlobee_. They're friends of mine. Doesn't that technically make us friends?” he gave a friendly smile.

 

Emma once again blinked at him. She was only two and so processing was a lot harder for her to do. Something had to be told her many times before she finally got it. So what this stranger was telling her didn't make sense to her. All she got was mama and aunt _Chlobee_. She looked at her dolls and then at him. Emma then pushed herself up and walked to the edge of her playpen, Cat Noir doll in hand. She handed it to Adrien and he willingly took it. “Canwor?

 

“Yeah, this is Cat Noir.” he nodded. She then toddled back to grab her Ladybug doll. “Pay Laybug and Canwor.” she said excitedly. She seemed to warm up quicker to him than he thought.

 

“Okay.” Adrien smiled. “What's the plan, Ladybug?” he waved the doll in front of her.

 

“Fight, ama!” she declared.

 

“Okay. Cataclysm!” he hadn't been Cat Noir since he left Paris and there was just satisfying about this. Of course, it was nothing compared to the real deal, but this was the closest he'd been in the last three years.

 

Both Marinette and Chloe had finally made their way upstairs and heard the cry both hadn't heard in years. Chloe had told her Adrien was upstairs currently watching over her daughter. Chloe assured her Emma would be fine with him. This was Adrien after all. Not to mention, Emma knew how to handle herself. Her stubbornness was like a certain Cat's and she'd refused to let anyone in her trust circle. Marinette was in by default. Children knew their mother. Her mother and father were close quickly too, because, maybe the smell of them reminded her of her mother. For Alya, Nino and Chloe, it wasn't until she was one year's old she finally completely let them in. Before that, she'd cry every time they held her. After a few months, she stopped crying, but still frowned at them. Marinette felt bad that Adrien had to deal with her daughter. It was probably going to take a year, maybe more before she finally let him in.

 

But when they arrived, it seemed Emma had already taken a shine to him. Chloe mumbled something about the Agreste charm that made all girls swoon.

 

“Wucky charm!” Emma exclaimed.

 

“Pound it.” the blonde man and toddler said in unison.

 

“Mama!” Emma said, dropping her doll and holding her hands up once she saw her.

 

Marinette was wide eyed at the sight of both Adrien and Emma making the dolls do what she once did with Cat Noir, but quickly brought her attention back to Emma and smiled. She placed the shopping bags down on the kitchen table and went over to hug her baby girl.

Adrien noticed the two women come in and when he saw Marinette, she looked stunning. Seeing photos of her or talking with her on a screen wasn't compared to seeing her in person.

 

“How are you my little kitten?” she rubbed their noses together. Adrien was a little surprised by the nickname. Why'd she give her that as a nickname?

 

“Laybug and Canwor win!” Emma told her.

 

“They beat Hawk Moth again. Well, Paris is safe. I see you made a new friend too.” she finally turned to Adrien.

 

“Canwor!” she pointed to him and he looked at her stunned. She couldn't have figured out his identity. Ladybug and Cat Noir were before her time. Then again, she did have these dolls and everyone she knew was quite affiliated with Ladybug and his alter ego. He recalled crossing their paths and saving them more than once.

 

Marinette and also Chloe both laughed.

 

“Kids and their imagination.” Marinette shrugged. “Although, you might want to convince her your name is actually Adrien or people might start thinking you're Cat Noir.”

 

“Yeah.” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I'm totally **not** Cat Noir. Guess she just needed to call me something and playing with the dolls gave her that idea.”

 

“We'll get Adrikins' named engraved in her mind.” Chloe stepped in.

 

“Adikins?” Emma tilted her head, picking up what her aunt said.

 

“Not that nickname. I don't need someone else calling me that too.”

 

“Then you better convince her to call you Adrien.” Marinette said and placed Emma back down. “What brings you by, anyway?” she went over to put the groceries away.

 

“I just came back from my travels and wanted to catch up. According to Nathalie, you were the closest.” he said.

 

“Oh, you were here to see Marinette. That makes more sense.” Chloe said as realisation struck. “Not offended by the way. You and I did stop talking long ago. But it was nice to think you did want to check up on me.”

 

“Sorry about that.”

 

“Pfft. I get it. Last I saw you I was still the Chloe everyone hated.”

 

“You kinda still are. Only now, you're more tolerable.” Marinette teased.

 

“Careful, I pay half the rent and save you on babysitting.” the blonde woman said in a sing song voice. “Oh, by the way, I got somewhere I need to be. Enjoy catching up you two. I'll be back, probably late.” she then headed out the door once again. Adrien noted she didn't seem to bring anything with her. No phone or purse.

 

“You and Chloe living together? Never thought I'd see that happen.” Adrien said.

 

“If you told me I would be living with her ten years ago, I thought you would've been crazy. But here we are now. Guess we had a few things in common and things worked out.”

 

“In common like what?”

 

“Like our ideal work. Design is clearly something we both love. She was always more of designer brand, but she did want her own label. We even sell some of her stuff downstairs.” There was also another line of work they had similar, but she couldn't tell him that for certain reasons.

 

“She did always love fashion from what I remember.” Adrien nodded.

 

“So, how was the world?” Marinette asked.

 

“It was okay. I did get to see all these places. But didn't get to enjoy them much because I was always busy. Either if it was for a photoshoot or some business related with the company. I'm just really glad to be back and I get to relax for a while.” Adrien turned back to Emma as Marinette continued to place items away. “I know it's not my business, but why isn't a father in her life?” he heard her fumble and when he looked up at her, she seemed to have been frozen in place. He was mentally hitting himself for asking that. Chloe warned him she didn't like talking about it. “Only asking because I...well...I didn't really have my parents around.” _shut up_ he told himself. “Sorry.”

 

Marinette finally turned around to face him. “It's okay. A lot of people do tend to ask that at first. Can you just accept that I'd rather not talk about it?”

 

Adrien nodded at that. This is why curiosity killed the cat.

 

“Did you manage to call the others?” Marinette suddenly asked, forgetting what had just happened. “I'm sure Nino would love to hear from his best friend and Alya wants the latest scoop.”

 

Adrien chuckled at that. “Maybe we could all hang out and catch up? Feel free to bring Emma if you can't find a babysitter.”

 

“She does seem to like you and I'm sure you don't want her calling you Adrikins.” Marinette teased.

 

“How old is she?”

 

“She's two.”

 

That meant Marinette was possibly pregnant when he left. She would've told him if she was. Maybe she had been wanting to tell him, but he had already left. He did leave rather quickly that their goodbyes were short and brief. Or maybe it was after he left. As much as Emma resembled certain physical traits, he knew for a fact that he wasn't the father. He and Marinette never even got to a first date.

 

“At least I don't have to catch up on a lot of missed birthday and Christmas gifts.” he joked.

 

“You don't really have to.” Marinette didn;t want him to go through all that trouble just because he had been away. He didn't even know Emma existed until today.

 

“I feel bad for missing out on getting to know her. If I hadn't been so busy...” Marinette held her index to silence him.

 

“It wasn't your fault. I could've easily told you sooner myself. When you left, I recently found out I was pregnant with her. I was going to tell everyone, but then you left unexpectedly. After that...I don't know. I just didn't know how to tell you and it didn't seem right to tell you over the phone.”

 

Also, because a part of her still cared deeply about him, her high school crush never really dying. She thought maybe he wouldn't be with someone who had someone else's kid. But now, he seemed to really like Emma. Her daughter even liked him back, which was rather unusual.

 

“I might've come home sooner.” he not knowing what he had just said until it came out.

 

Marinette looked at him questionably. “Why would Emma be a reason for you to come back?”

 

“Forget I said that. I don't know why I even said that. But you gotta admit, you've got the cutest kid I've ever seen. Who wouldn't want to come see her?”

 

A light blush appeared on her cheeks. “I'm sure she appreciates your comment. Right, Emma?” she looked over to the toddler. “Someone thinks you're cute.”

 

“Cause I cute.” she grinned much like a certain cat she use to know.

 

“And she seems to know it too.” Adrien laughed, Marinette then joining in.

 

* * *

 

Queen Bee was currently patrolling the streets of Paris, but did stop by the apartment at some point. She did have a crush on Adrien once upon a time, but that was then and now, when she saw him, it felt as if you were seeing your brother who left for college and is now on break and spending holidays with the family. And she also remembered all the times he looked at Marinette. He gave her a look he had never given her. She wondered why he never actually went for her? He was Adrien Agreste. He could get any girl he wanted. Seeing the scene through the window, it looked as if Adrien was the missing part of the family. The man Marinette needed who'd love her more than anything and the father Emma deserved. It was possible. Looking closely she could see that Emma had some of Adrien's features. While her lips were like her mothers, her smile was more like his and her eyes were even his.

 

Using her spinning top, she contacted the other two Miraculous holders who were currently patrolling other parts of the city.

 

“Is there something on your end?” Volpina asked.

 

“Give us your location and we'll be there, Bee.” Tortue said.

 

“Oh there's definitely something on my end. But no real danger.” she responded.

 

“If it's not an emergency, then what is it?” Volpina questioned.

 

“Let's say a certain model has come home and maybe we're a lot closer to figuring out who might be a certain little bug's daddy is.”

 


	2. Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio try to see if Cat and Adrien are the same, while Marinette and Adrien try to figure things out.

“Don't you think we would've known if Adrien was Cat Noir?” Tortue said.

 

“We didn't know who each other was until we revealed ourselves to each other.” Volpina argued.

 

“But I'm his best friend!”

 

“And I'm your girlfriend. You didn't even put two together then. I doubt you would've noticed your best friend.”

 

Queen Bee rolled her eyes as they bickered. “Hey, we were all blind to the obvious. And we still have to prove it somehow that Cat Noir and Adrien are one and the same.”

 

“And how do we do that? Nab him when he's alone and demand the truth?” Tortue suggested.

 

“Oh that'll look great for our image. Heroes of Paris stalk down Paris' favourite son.” Volpina said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

 

“Would you two just knock it off already!” Bee yelled.

 

Tortue and Volpina blinked at their friend, she still had that effect on people.

 

“Okay. But I thought you were madly in love with Adrien.” Tortue changed the subject to avoid more of her wrath. He knew that ticking her off enough would be like bringing the old Chloe. “Why hook him up with Mari?”

 

“That was in high school. Not to mention I don't have much of a chance with him.”

 

“Why not? New Chloe.” Volpina shrugged.

 

She raised an eyebrow at the fox heroine. “You weren't there when he saw Marinette for the first time in years and the new Chloe doesn't have as much interest in him as the old Chloe did. And if he possibly is Cat Noir, therefore making him the father, I don't wanna be in the way of that.”

 

“And on the chance he isn't?” Tortue asked. “Whether or not they return feelings for each other, Marinette doesn't want to be with someone in case the real Cat Noir returns. She's always thinking of Emma nowadays. She doesn't want to replace her father.”

 

“Then we better hope Adrikins is Cat or they'll all be miserable for the rest of their lives.”

 

“Why would you even come to the conclusion that he even is Cat Noir?” Volpina asked.

 

“First, he sees Emma and looks like he's seen her before. Then Mari and I both hear him say the things Cat Noir says and either that's really him or he's really good at impressions. Plus, just look at them.” she motioned to the window where the Dupain-Cheng girls and Adrien were. “You can definitely see traits of Adrien in Emma.”

The two did closely examine and could see their friend's point. When they noticed before they all dropped the idea because that was too good to be true. But seeing both Adrien and Emma in the same room, it was as if he was her father. Chloe even mentioned Emma seemed to like him instantly, which was way quicker than them.

 

“So how do we get the cat out of the bag?” Tortue asked.

 

* * *

 

 

Adrien stood in the doorway of Emma's nursery as Marinette tucked her daughter in. It was a bit past the girl's bedtime. The only reason she had been up so long was because she had a new friend to play with and Marinette didn't have the heart to stop the two. But one look at the time and she had to put her foot down. She even caught Emma yawning.

 

“No sleep.” she shook her head.

 

“Yes sleep.” her mother said.

 

“But I play with Canwor.” she stuck her lip out and pointed to Adrien. They just went with that name instead of Chloe's nickname. Every time they tried to get her to say Adrien she just said “Adikins”. Thanks Chloe.

 

“But Cat Noir can't have a tired Ladybug. He needs one whose well rested or whose gonna look after him?”

 

“But I no sleep.” Emma rubbed her eyes.

 

“Let me try.” Adrien stepped in and walked over to the girl's crib. Marinette looked surprised, but stepped out of his way. “Do you know why Ladybug and Cat Noir are so good at their job?” he asked the little girl.

 

He could see she was thinking as hard as she could with her two-year old mind. When she couldn't come up with an answer, Adrien went ahead. “Because they go to bed on time. If they don't sleep, they get tired and can't beat Hawk Moth.”

 

“And Keen Bee and Volpina and Turtle Bird?”

 

Adrien had to hold in a laugh at her pronunciation of Tortue's name. He wondered if the turtle superhero appreciated the name. He might have to ask him. “Yup. A good superhero is one who sleeps on time.” he tapped her nose. “So are you going to keep causing trouble for your mommy or are you going to go to bed like all the superheroes?”

 

“Okay. Sleep.” Emma finally laid down and Marinette was able to tuck her in, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Night my little kitten.” she whispered.

 

As the two left the room, Marinette carefully closing the door. “You sure have a way with her.” she commented.

 

“I do have a way with kids.” he simply shrugged.

 

“I remember that photoshoot you had with Manon. Clearly you do have a way with kids.” But something was different. She couldn't put her finger on it though.This was way different than a photoshoot.

 

“I should probably get going. Catch up tomorrow?” he asked.

 

“Sure.” Marinette nodded and led him to the door.

 

As soon as he was out the door, Marinette let out a breath she hadn't realise she'd been holding. She might be comfortable Adrien now, but her feelings for him that she thought she had buried away had come rushing back up. Seeing how easily he and Emma bonded in their short time knowing each other didn't help. Maybe if he was Cat Noir, it might be easier. But she couldn't do that to them or Emma. Adrien shouldn't have to be responsible for someone else's kid and she still hoped Cat Noir might come back one day. He was Emma's father and her daughter deserved to know her real one before Marinette would even consider being with someone else. As great as Adrien was, he just wasn't Emma's father and Emma was still so young to know the difference. If only Adrien and Cat Noir were one and the same. But who was she kidding, they were too different.

 

Hopefully things might be better tomorrow. Usually, she'd transform into Ladybug to clear her head, but Chloe was patrolling tonight and Marinette wasn't going to leave her daughter alone. So instead, she just walked to her room, which was next to Emma so she could hear when her daughter was in desperate need of a diaper change or was sneaking past her bed time. At two years old, she was a bit difficult to handle. No wonder they called it the terrible twos. Marinette dropped on her bed and just stared at the ceiling. Maybe she still had a chance with Adrien, she just had to make sure Emma didn't see him as a replacement father. But what if like Adrien, Cat Noir came back and wanted to be part of Emma's life?

 

Why did she fall for that stupidly charming cat?

 

* * *

 

He found himself looking up to Marinette's window. The light's were still on, but he couldn't see her. He knew she was there though because a moment ago he saw her shadow pass by. So his day so far consisted of meeting his oldest friend who was now currently living with her rival turned friend, who also happened to be another one of his friends. Said friend had a child with someone and he felt like this child could possibly be his. Except that was impossible because he and Marinette were never that close. Unless she was Ladybug and Ladybug somehow fell pregnant with that one night. But come on, wouldn't he had known if Marinette was Ladybug and surely Marinette would've recognised him as Cat Noir if she was.

There was also the fact both were careful that night. At least he was sure of it, double checked and everything. If he got Ladybug pregnant that meant she was raising a kid somewhere and didn't even know who the father of her child was. All she knew was that it was Cat Noir and you couldn't exactly be going round telling people that. What if that was why she had to leave and he stupidly thought it was because she was avoiding him because of what happened? Why didn't he hear her out?

 

Of course there was no way of him knowing for sure. Just because Marinette had a kid, didn't mean Ladybug had one too. There was no way of knowing.

 

Unless...

 

He could hear a familiar sound of board wheels approaching. Adrien turned away from Marinette's window and saw Tortue was out on his nightly patrol. He didn't seem to notice Adrien watching as he sped by on the next roof top. Maybe it was time to bring back the cat suit. Surely the other Miraculous team members would fill him in on what he's missed.

 

So after three long years, the black cat miraculous was once again activated and one of Paris' heroes finally returned.

 

* * *

 

 

“Think he saw you?” Volpina asked.

 

Tortue looked at her with a _duh_ expression. “It wasn't like I was being subtle. He definitely saw me.”

 

“So that means if he's Cat he'll transform. Probably has questions and we just give him what he needs to know for now.” Bee informed.

 

“And what does he need to know?” Tortue asked.

 

“Were you not paying attention?” Volpina hit him on the side of the head with her flute. “We just tell him Ladybug's been okay. We don't say anything about Emma.” she reminded.

 

“Okay.” Tortue frowned as he rubbed his head.

 

“And hint off we know each other's identities. Might make us find out who the dad is?” Bee added.

 

“Speaking of which, I'd know those cat ears anywhere.” Tortue pointed in one direction.

 

All three turned to see a sight they hadn't seen for a while. The sight of Cat Noir pole vaulting across the rooftops and heading towards them.

 

“Oh...the kitty cat returns.” Volpina said casually once he landed.

 

They must all be on patrol. Hawk Moth hadn't been at large for the last couple of years, but they still patrolled incase. They had never defeated him and one day he just vanish. But all their kwamis had warned them that he was still out there. No one knew exactly why he just stopped akumatizing people and causing havoc, but Paris was at least able to sleep better knowing that the threat was down. But the Miraculous team knew they couldn't rest and he would most likely return. It was just a matter of time.

 

“Well, I think my vacation lasted long enough.” Cat rubbed the back of his head. “Have you guys heard from Ladybug?” he asked, getting straight to the point.

 

Queen Bee raised an eyebrow and began circling him, earning her a confused look from him, but she didn't seem affected. “And why do you ask?”

 

“Do I really have to answer?”

 

“Well, it could be because of the last time you talked or you still have a massive crush on her?” Tortue shrugged.

 

“How do you know we haven't talked in the last couple of years?”

 

“She would've said. Not to mention you'd be in the know of certain things.” Volpina stated.

 

“What certain things?” Cat blinked.

 

Bee placed a finger to his lips. “If she hasn't told you, then we won't you. It's between the two of you and I think she'd prefer to tell you herself.” She smirked.

 

Cat sighed. “Think you could get into contact with her?”

 

“We'll make sure she knows her favourite cat is looking for her.” Tortue patted him on the shoulder.

 

Their strange behaviour didn't go unnoticed by him. They all seemed to be circling him like he was food and they all looked like they knew something he didn't. They did probably know a lot giving he had been absent. But it was like they wanted to tell him and he wanted to know what this secret was they were hiding.

 

“By the way, met anyone interesting lately?” Bee asked.

 

Why would she be interested if he did? Not to mention they didn't talk about their personal lives. The whole keeping identities secret and all deal.

 

“Ahh...maybe. But isn't that crossing the whole identity line?” he said stepping back.

 

“Right.” Bee nodded. “We still need to respect your privacy.” the blonde nodded. “But maybe you should at least consider telling Ladybug who you are. I'm sure she'd love to know whose behind those cat ears.” she playfully flicked at his cat ears. “Anyway, it's getting late and the rest of us should be heading home.” she waved and jumped off the roof. Tortue and Volpina prepared to leave as well.

 

“Nice seeing you again, Claws.” Volpina said.

 

“We're going to have some serious catch up later, bro.” Tortue winked, leaving a subtle hint.

 

Cat raised an eyebrow at Tortue's nickname for him. Volpina had always called him Claws, and he gave her the nickname Tails. But Tortue had never called him bro. Only one person called him that. That same person had been his first real best friend.

 

Maybe it was just a random name. Just because he said it, didn't mean it. Besides, he missed his friends. So seeing bits of them in his teammates was probably normal. And there was also the fact they thought it was okay for him to reveal his identity to Ladybug? Why would they suggest that? Did Ladybug have a reason to tell him? That meant they had been in contact with her. But like him she had been inactive, aside for a few sightings on her part. Either those sightings were when they saw her or...they knew who she was!

 

* * *

 

Incase he had been watching, Queen Bee did a circle around the block before heading home. She couldn't risk him knowing her identity yet. He could probably figure out the rest if he saw Queen bee turning into Chloe. Not that that'd be a bad thing, but he just got back and needed to adjust first. Probably not the smartest idea to suddenly have them reveal their identities to him and then tell him that Ladybug had his kid. They'd give him a day. She saw her window had been left opened, no doubt it was Marinette. She always opened the window when she patrolled late, because going through the front door would wake up Emma and getting her to go back to sleep would be an all nighter. Neither of the women were happy about it when morning came and that's when Emma had finally fallen asleep. Cute kid, but a handful.

 

She let her transformation die down and Pollen landed in the palms of her hand. “Think that Adrien is Cat?” she asked.

 

“Still not a hundred percent. We might have to see how Adrien is tomorrow.” Chloe answered.

 

“Please.” Pollen rolled her eyes. “You are clearly convinced it's him. Even I can see it. Those are Adrien's eyes Emma has and she has Cat Noir's nose.”

 

“Okay. But everyone else still needs convincing and we still have to tell Marinette.”

 

“We'll tell her in the morning. Right now, you both need rest.” Pollen informed and gave her chosen a nuzzle on the cheek.

 

* * *

 

In a dark auditorium, filled with nothing but flying whit butterflies, a man stepped into the only source of light, the moon shining in through the large window. A grin appeared on his face.

 

“Cat Noir has returned.” he said with a hint of amusement. “I feel Ladybug will soon come out too and then ultimate power will once again be in my grasp.” Hawk Moth clenched his fist and then began to laugh evilly.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know the Bee kwami's name, so i'm just guessing. If it's right, that's a total coincidence. I was just going with the whole it at least has to have double letters in the name.
> 
> Also, thanks for the response from the last chapter. I didn't except it. It made me really want to get this chapter up for all of yous. So hope you like this one.
> 
> Bye!


	3. First Family Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien discovers what it takes to keep Emma happy.

Why was he nervous about today? Okay, he was going to see his friends again. But then there was also Marinette and Emma. Not to mention, his run in last night with the team. What had they been going on about? Couldn't they have told him something that would catch him up, instead of being brief.

 

“Kid, no need to stress yourself out. Just because Marinette has a kid it didn't mean Ladybug had one too.” Plagg shrugged, continuing to munch on a piece of camembert.

 

“Maybe I am worrying myself over nothing.” Adrien said as he threw his shirt on. “But I can't shake the feeling that something's up.”

 

“I'm sure once you talk with Ladybug, you'll figure things out.” Plagg said.

 

“But that won't be until tonight. Giving the other's get in contact with her. But now, I've got to make it through catching up with my friends.”

 

Plagg rolled his eyes and then flew towards Adrien face. “Stop overthinking things. Marinette may or not may be Ladybug which means Emma may or may not be your daughter. But you're suppose to be just catching up with your friends and getting to know this new little edition to your group.”

 

Adrien blinked at his kwami. He had a point. If Marinette was Ladybug, then both of them should've figured out the other's identities ages ago. Not to mention if Marinette wasn't Ladybug, then it'd be weird if he even brought up the idea that he could be Emma's father.

 

“Okay. I get it. I'm overreacting.” Adrien said, shooing his kwami away. He remained silent for a moment, before looking back to his kwami. “Hey, Plagg?”

 

The small cat creature looked up to him. “Hmm.”

 

“Did you ever know who Ladybug was?”

 

“Always had. Since the first moment I sensed Tikki when you and Ladybug crossed paths as civilians.”

 

“And you never told me because?”

 

“You know why? You two will tell each other when you're ready. I did always push you to find out her identity, but you were always stubborn and not thinking. Probably would've saved you all the trouble. But I must follow the rules of keeping Miraculous secrets. Now let's go before you're late.”

 

* * *

 

So Cat Noir was back. Thankfully her friends didn't say anything about Emma. Not that she doubted them. But he deserved to know over all of them. He may of left unexpectedly, but he should've been the first to know. She had been leading up to it the last time they spoke, but she never had the chance to because he interrupted and then everything went out of hand. It ended with the two of them leaving the team, for good as it seemed, and never talking to each other again. How did it end up there? Most of the argument was a blank. She remembered getting mad and then him getting mad. It started off with her saying it was best she leave, for the time and Cat thought that it meant she was leaving because of what happened with them a some nights before that. In a way it was, but it wasn't a bad thing. She was just thinking about the safety of not just herself and her team, but also for her future child that was also Cat Noir's. Maybe she should've started with that fact and things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. They would have learnt each other's identities and Emma wouldn't have spent the first two, almost three years of her life without a father.

 

Hearing he was back, meant she could finally tell him and see if he did want to start a family or at least be apart of it.

 

“Don't you think it's a little weird that Adrien and Cat Noir happen to come back on the same day?” Chloe pointed out as she stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, applying her makeup.

 

“Pure coincidence. What are you implying?” Marinette raised an eyebrow.

 

“Wouldn't it be swell if Adrien was Cat Noir and he was the father? It'd make sense why Emma seems to like Adrikins so much.”

 

“Adrien just has a way with kids. There's no way he's Cat Noir.” Marinette denied.

 

“If I can be Queen Bee, then Adrien can be Cat Noir.” Chloe stated. “We all now each other outside of the mask coincidentally. So it makes sense that Adrien is Cat Noir.”

 

“It's possible but there's no way Adrien and Cat Noir are the same person. They're two different people.” Marinette took a deep breath before continuing. “Can we just get through this day without making things weird on huge what ifs?”

 

Chloe rolled her eyes, but went along with it. “Fine. But if I'm right on the whole Adrien/Cat Noir thing, I get half your earnings this week.”

 

“Why?” Marinette blinked.

 

“Chlo _bee_ wants a new pair of shoes.”

 

“You spend way too much time with Emma.” Marinette chuckled and headed for Emma's room to get the young girl ready.

 

As she came in, she could see Emma was already awake from her last nap and was already trying her escape from her crib.

 

“Someone's excited I see.” Marinette laughed and went over to help her out. “You promise to be a good girl today. No getting your dress dirty at the park.” she waved her finger.

 

“I play?” Emma asked.

 

“Yes.” Marinette nodded. “But you have to get cleaned up first.”

 

Emma frowned. “But cats don wike wader.” she shook her head and stuck her lip out.

“I know. But you want to look nice and don't want to be stinky. No one wants to play with a stinky little girl.”

 

“Okay.” Emma gave in. “But candy.” she held her hand out, expecting her payment front and centre.

 

Marinette shook her head as she laughed. “Bath first.” she placed her hands on her hips.

 

Emma lowered her hand and frowned at her mother. “Pwomise?”

 

“I'll even buy a bag of your favourites so you can share with everyone at the park.”

 

At that Emma perked up and grabbed her mother's hand, dragging her towards the bathroom. “Come on, maman, bath time!” the two year old said eagerly.

 

* * *

 

Nino and Alya were already at the park, setting up their spot. They made sure to get the shaded area closest to the playground, since they knew Emma would be looking for it.

 

“You're not going to scare Adrien too much?” Nino asked.

 

“I'm not that scary and I'll just be making sure that he won't be like his own father and ignore his kid.” Alya said.

 

“Giving he **is** the father.” Nino reminded.

 

“Wanna make a bet?” Alya smirked.

 

“On what grounds?”

 

“Loser does all the housework for a month.”

 

“You're on.” Nino nodded and they sealed the deal with a handshake.

 

Nino already felt he was going to lose the bet. Not only was his girlfriend confident, but she was right a lot of times. Said for the time she thought Chloe was Ladybug. But after that she learnt not to jump to conclusions without the facts. They had little on Cat Noir and Adrien being the same person, but it was probably enough for her to confidently make a bet. Alya seemed to figure what was going on with his mind and smirked mischievously.

 

“Oh, I can just hear the dishes calling your name.”

 

As much as he hoped that Adrien was Cat Noir, he still wanted it to not be the case, because he knew Alya would just take advantage of the whole thing.

 

* * *

 

A girl sitting outside on a bench pulled off the necklace and just stared at the pendant. It was half a heart that said _Best_. The other half was with her so-called best friend. They had attended the party that the whole school had been talking about. Her crush was gonna be there and after wussing out so many times, the party was going to be her chance to finally ask him out. But then her best friend came in and just asked him out and he said yes. Her friend's excuse was that she _never made a move_. Being the good friend she was, she said she was happy for them, but inside she was screaming at how unfair it was all. Why was it in order for someone to have happiness, someone had to sacrifice theirs. It just wasn't right. While she continued to sob, she didn't notice the small purple butterfly flying towards her necklace.

 

“Hello, Disastifier.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey, long time no see, bro.” Nino greeted, maybe his friend caught what he said.

 

Adrien greeted hos friend back. Pure coincidence that both Tortue and Nino would call him that. Loads of people probably used that nickname with their friends.

 

“Heard you had an interesting day yesterday.” Nino said.

 

“If by interesting you mean I spent the day at home. Then I guess it was kinda interesting being back home after not seeing it for so long.” Adrien shrugged.

 

“I was talking about meeting Emma. Marinette's little bundle of joy.”

 

“Oh.” Adrien nodded. “That was an interesting surprise.”

 

Nino studied the man's expression. He kinda wished he made the bet that wasn't against him being the father, because his distracted expression looked a lot like Emma's at the moment. Oh, those dishes were so his. Maybe he should've thought things through. So far, he lost almost every bet against Alya and the times he won, she'd give him a death glare and the silent treatment. So it wasn't really a win.

 

“But wouldn't you be surprised if you found out your friend had a kid and you never knew?” Adrien pointed out.

 

“Probably. Is that's the only thing surprising about her?” Nino asked.

 

Well, there was the fact that he recognised her eyes. He hadn't seen those eyes since...well, his mother. But he didn't want his friends to be suspicious. He didn't want to tell them something he wasn't even sure about. If Marinette was Ladybug then maybe he was Emma's father. Not to mention, risking on revealing, not only his identity, but possibly Ladybug's as well.

 

“Uhm...I do notice the lack of a father.” he shrugged, going for the obvious answer. It wasn't meant to mean anything. He hoped his friend took it more as an observation.

 

“Any ideas on who the father could be? I recall you two being quite close before you took off.” he said, throwing an arm around his friend.

 

Adrien quickly stepped away and stared wide eye at his friend. “Mari and I were never that close and she would've told me if it was. What gave you that idea?”

 

Nino had to laugh at how alarmed Adrien looked. “I was kidding, bro. We know you never would've left if you did.” he slapped his friend on the back, who currently was still in shock over his friend's accusation, even if it were just a joke.

 

“Look.” Nino cleared his throat and straightened himself out. “As fun as that was to mess around with you, Emma's father is no joking matter. Marinette's still hurt by it and I'm sure she'd do anything to make things right with him again.”

 

“You know who the father is?” Adrien asked.

 

“All I know is, she was going to tell him she was pregnant but the guy thought they were breaking up or something because of that one night, things went out of hand and it ended with him leaving and Marinette never telling him she was pregnant. To this day, she hasn't seen or heard from him.”

 

What kind of idiot leaves before letting someone explain? Maybe if the guy hadn't jumped to conclusions, then Marinette and Emma could have a happy complete family.

 

“But I know you'd never talk over a girl and leave her with the consequences of a one night stand.” Nino added.

 

And at that comment, Adrien realised he had done that to Ladybug. She wasn't pregnant, but he had never let her explain why she chose to leave the group. Yet, she could have been. Again with the thought of what ifs. But this time, he realised he was just as bad as the guy who left Marinette to raised a kid on her own just because he thought the guy was bad.

 

“Yeah. I'd wait for an explanation.” he knew very well he was lying to his best friend.

 

Nino didn't seem to pick up on it and just walked back to Alya. “Oh and don't tell Mari I told you. She'd have my neck.”

 

“Secret's safe with me.” Adrien smiled.

 

Once he was back with his girlfriend and Adrien was out of earshot, Alya spoke to him.

 

“So, any interesting reactions from our local model on Emma's daddy?” she asked.

 

“Oh, we definitely got something from him. He sure took his time processing it and his reply was quite delayed.”

 

“Which means he was in a similar situation or he was in that exact same situation and we're past the point to think it's just a coincidence.”

 

Nino nodded his head and pushed his glasses up. “We could just tell them.”

 

Alya shook her head and looked at him firmly. “We can't, on the small chance Adrien isn't Cat Noir...”

 

“But the facts...” Alya held her hand up when he interrupted.

 

“If he isn't, then we just reveal Marinette as Ladybug to Adrien and he might think we're crazy. Not to mention, blowing those two's chances of ever being together.”

 

When one puts it that way, then he could see why telling the guy straight up was a bad idea. All that information being dumped at once and no proof might push away his friend.

 

“We can't just sit and wait.” he said.

 

“We won't have to wait long, hopefully. Chloe's agreed to not go on patrol tonight. Which means Emma won't be left alone when Ladybug decides to make a comeback and confront Cat. From there, she'll have to tell him everything and it would lead to the reveal.”

 

“Sounds like a great plan, except for the part where patrol will be longer because we're one short.”

 

Alya rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. One night of patrolling half the city won't kill him.

 

* * *

 

Chloe was up to something. Marinette knew when that girl was up to something. That was one thing that never changed with the girl. Even back when they were rivals, Chloe was always scheming to get things her way. While her intentions now may not be as bad, Marinette still suspected her. When she said she wasn't going on patrol tonight, Marinette had to wonder why. But then remembered Cat Noir had returned and it was obvious the blonde was trying to set her up. After hearing her original partner had returned, the woman knew she would have to confront him eventually. But she didn't realise her friends would try to force that. That's right, she suspected Nino and Alya were part of this too. She was thrown off however by the insistence she spend more time with Adrien and even let him get to know Emma. How exactly did Adrien fit into this?

 

Using Marinette's car, they parked nearby the park and the two women and toddler went out. Marinette, carrying her daughter in her arms. She had kept her promise on buying her candy and the child was currently picking out her favourites and leaving her least favourite ones for the others.

 

“Ooh, I spy hot blonde model at two o' clock.” Chloe exclaimed, pointing at Adrien. “So mingle.” she stepped out of the way and let Marinette walk ahead of her. “I think I'll find my own candy. Like that brunette over there.” Chloe then left Marinette to head over to Adrien, but not before she said “Make your move.” and nudged Marinette on the shoulder.

 

The closer she came, the more her nerves kicked in. Maybe she sould talk to Cat first and straighten thing's out with him first. She was about to turn away when her daughter called out to him.

 

“Canwor!” she shouted, alerting his attention and holding out a piece of candy, waving it around excitedly.

 

* * *

 

When he heard the young girl's precious voice, Adrien couldn't help but light up. He looked around and saw an excitable Emma trying to free herself from Marinette's grasp and make a beeline for him.

 

“Canwor!” she called out, heading towards him.

 

Not entirely sure what to do, he knelt down to her height, no sooner had he did, she had tackled him down with a hug. She was a lot stronger then she looked. Clearly not to be underestimated on any circumstances.

 

“Hey there, little hero.” he laughed, propping himself up with his elbow. Adrien then held the girl and stood off the ground, lifting her up with him. Marinette had finally caught up to them and immediately apologized for Emma's behavoiur.

 

“I'm so sorry. She just get's way too excited.”

 

“It's all good.” Adrien smiled. “Didn't realise she was so tough.” he held the child's arm and made it seem like she was flexing whatever muscle she may or may not possess.

 

“Mama says eating vegables make me stwong.” Emma said.

 

“She's right about that. I think I've got the Emma size bruise to prove it.” he said, his eyes focusing on the girl in his arms. “What do you have there?” he asked, noticing the bit of wrapping peeking from her clenched fist.

 

“Pwesent.” she then opened her hand and revealed a melted piece of chocolate inside the scrunched up wrapper. Bits of it had gotten on her hand.

 

“Chocolate. My favourite. How did you know?” He probably wouldn't eat it though. It looked past the point of being edible. He did take it though, which he learnt was a mistake.

 

Marinette giggled, approaching them and ran her fingers through Emma's hair. “You're going to have to eat that now.” she smirked.

 

“What?” he blinked, turning to her. “I was going to save it for later.”

 

“No. You she gave you a candy and her rule is: you have to eat it or she won't be your friend.” Marinette explained.

 

“Really?” he turned back to Emma, who responded by crossing her arms and nodding her head.

 

“It's not nice to waste food. My pwesent will be yucky and you'll thwow it in the bin and I'll be sad.” she them gave him a pout that made her eyes widen, much like Puss in Boots from the Shrek films.

 

“I promise I won't throw it away. I just want to save it for later.” he said, suddenly feeling guilty. It may have just been a melted piece of chocolate, but it seemed to really mean a lot for her to give it to him.

 

“But I wanna see you eat it now.” she further pouted. “You don wanna be my fwend?” now she looked like she was about to cry and that's when he gave in. Where did she get this from?

 

“Okay, okay. I'll eat it.” He handed Emma over to Marinette, who had an amused smile on her face.

 

Adrien unwrapped the wrapper best he could and managed to eat what he could. It wasn't that bad, but it didn't feel pleasant either. Adrien swallowed the chocolate and showed his empty mouth to Emma. “See, Emma? All done.”

 

Emma clapped. “I still like you even if you didn't eat.” she said, which made Adrien go wide eyed.

 

“Are you saying I didn't have to eat that?”

 

That made Marinette laugh out loud. She then straightened herself and turned to Emma.

 

“You just love to mess around with people. Why don't you go bug Aunt Alya and Uncle Nino?”

 

Will you play on the swings with me later, Canwor?” Emma asked.

 

“You're not going to make me eat melted chocolate again, are you?”

 

Emma looked at her mother who only gave her a smile. She then turned to Adrien. “I'll let you pick fwom the box.” was her final answer. She then went over to her aunt and uncle.

 

“She's cute, but she seems to be quite a troublemaker.” Adrien commented once she was out of ear shot.

 

“You have no idea. But Emma means well.” she definitely had her father's ability to annoy her to pieces, yet she couldn't help but adore and love them both. Yup, she was Cat Noir's daughter. “If you want a tip, distract her somehow so you won't get melted chocolate presents.” Marinette advised. “Or just direct her to Nino. He _loves_ her melted treats.”

 

Adrien laughed. He could tell by love she meant he despised it, but gave in because he didn't want to hurt Emma's feelings. When he stopped laughing and finally looked at Marinette, he realised he hadn't really seen her from when she arrived until now. He was either distracted by Emma or Marinette had Emma in her arms. Now it was just the two of them and she looked rather beautiful today.

 

Marinette blinked and alight blush appeared on her cheeks. “Uh th-thanks.” she said.

 

He realised he had said that out loud. Why didn't he have control of what came out of his mouth around her?

 

* * *

 

“Aww, look.” Alya cooed. “The dynamic duo are bonding.” Alya said as she watched Adrien and Marinette chatting. From here, she could tell Adrien had said something to make Marinette blush.

 

“Does Mama like Canwor?” Emma asked, tugging at the woman's leg. She hadn't been informed of her name for Adrien and was confused by the girl's question. “Her face goes pink when she sees him and he makes big eyes at mama.”

 

“When did you see Cat Noir?” Alya asked.

 

Emma pointed towards Adrien. “He's over there with Mama. He said you were fwends?”

 

“Did she just call Adrien Cat Noir?” Nino questioned, staring bewildered at Alya, who mirrored his look.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at names. Disastifier was the best I had. Just know that I tried.


	4. Return of the Cat and Bug Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for our favourite duo to step out of retirement.

The two adults kept looking at the two year old with disbelief. Emma didn't seem to have noticed their strange behaviour. She didn't exactly understand a lot of things, let alone how the grown up mind work.

 

“I feel as if I destroyed your mannequin challenge.” Chloe commented as she arrived. That did seem to snap them out of it. “What happen? Emma left a diaper bomb and you two don't want to change her?” Although, there was a lack of smell, so it had to be something else. “I'm not a mind reader, so you two have to talk.”

 

Alya shook her head, putting down Emma, who was starting to fidget. “She just called Adrien Cat Noir.”

 

“And?” Chloe said unfazed by it.

 

“She just figured out what took us years.” Nino pointed out.

 

At that Chloe had to laugh, leaving the two baffled.

 

“Cat Noir is her official name for Adrien. It has nothing to do with him possibly being Cat Noir. Adrien did try to teach her his name last night, but she kept calling him Adrikins.”

 

Wouldn't take a genius to figure out where she got that name. But now they seemed dumbfounded. It wasn't as if a two year old could really know a superhero's secret identity.

 

“Besides how would Emma even know Cat Noir? Aside from the stories and her dolls, she's never even met the guy.” Chloe stated. “She'd think anyone in a cat suit could be him.”

 

However, if they did understand the mind of Emma, they would've learnt that she wouldn't just call anyone Cat Noir and that the man she deemed Cat Noir was because she knew. But who would take a child her age seriously?

 

* * *

 

 

The three moved on from the whole thing. It was just ridiculous Emma could figure out the mystery of Cat Noir after one encounter with his secret identity. So everyone just continued with their day, having a blast at the park. Adrien even kept his promise and joined Emma on the swings, pushing her to a height that didn't make Marinette scream.

 

Adrien hadn't meant to freak her out, but Emma insisted he go higher. But after her mother's outburst, Adrien settled with pushing her on the swing. Mainly because Marinette had a look that could kill. Nino had bursted out laughing seeing his face.

 

“Way to freak out Marinette, dude.” Nino said.

 

“I didn't mean to. I was only complying to the little lady's wishes.” Adrien admitted.

 

“That didn't exactly mean push her all the way to space. Gotta learn boundaries, bro. Do what Emma wants, but put limits to it. Unless she ask you to do something ridiculous. Then maybe don't do it.”

 

Adrien chuckled lightly. But he'd keep his friend's advice in mind. After all, he didn't want to be on Marinette's bad side or get Emma hurt. He might actually understand why his father was so over protective of him. He didn't want Emma to get even a scratch on her soft, clear skin. She was too precious for that. If he had it his way, no danger or threat would ever come to her. She wasn't his daughter, but he just felt this sort of protectiveness towards her. It could be because Marinette was his friend and he considered her family in a way, making her family also his and since Emma was her daughter, Emma was apart of his family.

 

The day seemed to be going well and felt as if nothing could ruin it. The group of friends were laughing at some stories they told, filling each other in on what they missed. Adrien mostly. That went on until they heard citizens running and screaming past. Of course nothing good ever lasted, especially for the superhero kind. The group looked up to see a girl with purple skin, a butterfly mask over her face and her long gown and wavy hair made her look as if she was living the dream. She blasted at some happy couple and their date was suddenly going wrong. The guy sneezed on the girl and the girl tripped and fell into the fountain. A total disaster. And the girl who caused it took pleasure in it.

 

“An akuma?” Alya said.

 

They hadn't dealt with those since...well the days of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Guess their extended vacation was finally over. But why would Hawk Moth make a comeback now?

 

“I am Disastifier!” the akuma announced. “Everyone will soon know the pain of not getting what you want!” she began blasting and buildings were getting destroyed, people who fell into her crossfire were suddenly feeling down and just not satisfied with their lives.

 

Chloe, who was currently holding Emma, handed her to Marinette and told her friend to grab Adrien and go to safety with her family. Marinette completely missed the family part or thought she just meant her and Emma and to simply take Adrien out of harm's way. But when she turned around to face Adrien, Marinette found he was gone. She hoped he was okay. He always seemed to disappear when trouble came back when they hung out. Maybe he didn't like being in the line of danger.

 

* * *

  
  


Running from his friends during an akuma attack may not have been the best idea, but he had been doing this for years now, excluding the few years he was off. But this definitely wasn't the first time. An akuma was on the loose and the city needed him right now.

 

“Plagg! Claws out!” he called out.

 

Once transformed, he made his way towards the battle, he saw he was the first to arrive from the team. His reappearance sure did get some attention. But plenty of time for that sort of thing later. Right now, akuma.

 

Seeing Marinette running away with Emma, he jumped towards her and pulled her out of harm's way. While he held onto her, she held on to Emma. Cat brought her to a location that was well away from the danger.

 

“Long time no see, Princess.” he said once putting her down. “And I see you have your own little Princess now.” he ran a finger across Emma's neck, making her giggle.

 

“Canwor!” she squealed excitedly.

 

“I see she's a fan too.” he smirked, turning back to Marinette, who still hadn't said anything. “Don't I get a welcome back or something?”

Marinette shook her head as if she was just bringing herself back from a daydream. “Sorry. It's just surprising to see you after so long. I just need to process all this.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay. Well, as much as I'd love to _cat_ up, I've got a city to save. See you around, Princess.” He then tapped Emma on the nose. “And I hope to see you again soon, little lady.” he gave a salute and headed straight back into battle. Finding the other three were already there and fighting the akuma.

 

Where was Ladybug?

 

* * *

 

 

“Bye bye, papa.” Emma waved once Cat Noir was gone. Part of Marinette was relieved he hadn't heard her, but part of her wish he had. It might save her having to explain everything. Seeing him again not only brought back her feelings, but it also brought back the memory of that stupid night. Because of her he never knew about Emma and as far as he knew, he was staring at Marinette, not Ladybug.

 

Speaking of which, how was she suppose to transform into Ladybug with Emma? She couldn't just leave her daughter unattended, but the city also required her now that there was an akuma, which surely meant Hawk Moth had returned.

 

“Tikki, what do I do?” she asked her kwami, hoping she would give her words of wisdom.

 

“You just need to believe in yourself to make the decision that's best for everyone.” Tikki replied.

 

Problem was she didn't know what was the best choice.

 

* * *

 

 

“There's no way we could defeat this akuma without Ladybug!” Queen Bee exclaimed as she was pulling her spin top back towards her.

 

“Unless she finds a way to take care of her _little_ problem, I doubt she'll be jumping into battle any time soon.” Nino said, which just so happen to be right when Cat Noir came in.

 

“What kind of little problem?” He raised an eyebrow.

 

The three just stared awkwardly at him and in response Cat just frowned at them. “Let me guess, I'll have to wait until we meet up?”

 

“That's right, Kitty cat.” Volpina confirmed, flicking one of his cat ears. “I think you guys can handle it while I'll find our dear Ladybug.” she said, extending her flute to bring her up a nearby building.

 

“Don't ask.” Tortue told him. “You'll get your answers soon enough, bro.” He patted him on the shoulder.

 

“But right now, we need to keep Miss Angry Pants busy.” Queen stated, readying to make another attack.

 

“Let's make sure that no one is in the line of fire, first.” Tortue pointed out.

 

“Okay, you take care of the people and Cat and I will deal with Disastifier. Sound good, Cat?” Queen turned to him.

 

“Works for me.” he stretched out and readied to pounce.

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, Volpina was busy searching for her friend. No doubt, she was worrying about what to do with Emma. She had simply went in the direction she had seen Cat Noir take Marinette. When the fox heroine finally found her, she saw her chatting with Tikki and holding Emma close.

 

“I see you're having a blast.” Volpina laughed, walking towards her friend.

 

“I'm totally not having a blast.” Marinette shook her head. “There's an akuma and I can't do anything because I have to watch over Emma. What kind of mother would I be if I just abandoned my child just because I have to stop the bad guy? What message am I sending?”

 

Volpina just shook her head at her friend's ramblings. “Clam down, Marinette. That's why I'm here. To take your little kitten out of your hand so you can get the job done.”

 

“But it's your duty too?” Marinette pointed out.

 

“My duty is to assist Ladybug and Cat Noir so they can stop the akuma. That's what I'm doing. I'm assisting Ladybug by watching over her child. You know we can't stop the akuma without you.”

 

“She's right, Marinette.” Tikki nodded. “Think about Emma. If you don't stop the akuma now, everyone, including Emma, won't be safe.”

 

Marinette bit her lip and she had to agree with her friends. The longer the akuma remained in control, the worse it'd get. If her friends destroyed the akumatized object, the akuma would still escape and spread throughout the city.

 

“Okay.” she let out a breath. “You promise to watch over her?”

 

Volpina rolled her eyes. “I've taken care of her before. Stop worrying and go fight that akuma. Volpina can sit this one out. Besides, it's time for Ladybug to be reunited with her Kitty Cat.” she teased. Volpina then released her transformation, Trixx coming out of her necklace, Alya now standing in place. “Now come and give Aunt Alya her favourite little girl.” she held her arms out, ready to take Emma from her overprotective mother.

 

“She's in good hands, Mari. You know that.” Trixx said.

 

Marinette held Emma tight and gave her one last kiss. “You be good for Aunt Alya. Mommy just has some business to take care of.” she told her and then passed her over to Alya.

 

Marinette released a breath and then summoned her kwami, becoming Ladybug and ready to fight for the first time in years.

* * *

 

 

The civilians had been long cleared out. Tortue Verde having successfully led them to safety, even the ones who had been drained of their happiness. That took some work as they had no will to move. Not much luck on Queen bee and Cat Noir's side, as Disastifier got up and just struck them back. They were lucky enough to dodge the attack. An unsatisfied superhero wouldn't be much help to the city. Not that they already weren't without Ladybug.

 

“Are you telling me you guys still haven't found a way to purify the akuma without Ladybug?” Cat questioned, jumping out of the way from one of Disastifier's attacks.

 

“Well, Hawk Moth hasn't sent out an akuma since you left. Didn't really give us time to experiment anything that could work.” Queen stated, dodging another incoming attack and then firing one of her own back.

 

“Okay, so what about Ladybug? Why was she MIA all these years?”

 

“Do I really look like the person you should asking that question?” Queen raised an eyebrow annoyed. “Just stop with the drama and help me take care of Disastifier.”

 

When a blast went between them, Cat turned to face the villain and placed his hands on his hips. “Guess with a name like Disastifier must mean you're never satisfied. Still no reason to take it out on the rest of us.”

 

“I'll show you how it feels to be me. You have no idea what it likes to work so hard to get what you want only to have all that effort done for nothing when what you worked for gets taken away from you so suddenly.” Disastifier said.

 

If only she knew. When Cat lost Ladybug that night, he never felt completely satisfied with what he had managed to achieve the past couple of years. Because he pushed her away he had no one to share moments with. He had no one to be proud of him and in return to be proud of when they accomplished something. To feel loved and return the feeling. To see a smile that would always make his day. He knew how the akuma villain felt, but it still wasn't right to wish it on others.

 

“I think I'll pass. Today's way too good to be feeling down.”

 

“We'll see about that.”

 

Before Disastifier's attack could hit him, he felt something wrap around him and then pull him out of the way. Cat landed by someone's feet and when he looked up, he saw a sight that he hadn't seen in years.

 

“Ladybug?”

 

“Nice of you to fall in, Chaton.” she smiled, offering a hand to help him up.

 

“Aren't you a sight a for sore eyes?” Cat returned the smile. But despite the reunion, there was still some unresolved tension between the two. Besides both being glad to see each other after so long, the reason they hand't seen each other for so long had surfaced, bringing back some old feelings and arising new ones.

Pushing that aside, the group continued to fight the akuma, doing their best dodge attacks and find what the possessed item could be. There wasn't much that looked like it could hold an akuma. All the girl had on was a long dress.

 

“Lucky charm!” Ladybug called out, summoning her power. When the object appeared and landed in front of them, she found it was a small trampoline.

 

“Looks like we'll be able to reach new heights.” Cat commented.

 

“Here come the jokes.” Bee rolled her eyes.

 

Ladybug didn't seem to mind. As annoying as his puns were back in the day, hearing them now was a blast to the past and brought back so many memories when the two of them fought alongside each other.

 

“Not my fault you can't reach my level of humour, even with this trampoline.”

 

While Cat came up with numerous trampoline related, Ladybug studied her surroundings and tried to form a solution. Aside from the dress, Disastifier had a necklace around her neck and hopefully that was where the akuma was hiding as they really didn't want to rip her dress apart to find it.

 

“There!” she called out. “The akuma has to be in her necklace.”

 

“How do you suppose we reach it?” Bee asked, looking up towards where the girl was floating. There wasn't anywhere they could latch onto with their weapons, to get to her height.

 

“With this.” Ladybug gestured to the trampoline. “The two of us will distract her and Cat will be the one to grab her necklace.” She said to Queen Bee and then looked over to Cat Noir to make sure they both got what she was saying.

 

As the two nodded to her plan, they got into position. The female heroes both did their job by making sure Disastifier's attention was on only them and that she wouldn't when Cat came with his cataclysm ready to destroy her necklace. They only had one shot and Ladybug was close to timing out and soon, so would Cat.

 

As the two dodged attacks from the akuma, Cat waited for the perfect moment and once Disastifier was in position, he did a running a start and jumped on the trampoline, causing him to jump above the akuma. He flipped over and ripped her necklace off. At his touch the necklace dissolved into nothing and the purple butterfly flew out. Using her yo-yo, Ladybug trapped the akuma before it could escape and cause more trouble.

 

“No more evil doing for you little akuma.” she said as she began to spin her yo-yo in order to purify it.

 

“It's time to de-evilise! Bye bye little butterfly.” Now white, the butterfly flew away and grabbing the ladybug themed trampoline, she threw in the air, to reverse all the damage caused by the akuma. The young girl reverted back to her usual self and as usual, had no recollection of the events that had happened.

 

Cat walked up beside her, his eyes on the purification, but as soon as he was by her side, he turned to face her. “Pound it?” he held up his fist expectantly toward her.

 

Ladybug smiled and placed her fist on his. “Pound it.” she then heard the familiar beep coming from her earring and knew she had to leave.

 

Before Cat could say anything, she spoke first. “We'll talk tonight. Okay?”

 

“Ahh...sure.” he nodded. With that, Ladybug threw her yo-yo onto a nearby building and sped off. She had to save her best friend from some other kind of trouble. Good thing it wasn't as bad as akumas...or maybe it was worse.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it feels rush, I'm sorry. I just had to wrap things up and get on with the story. Yeah, Hawk Moth is an important part, but right now, I just need a way to bring back LB and CN and to show them all Hawk Moth is back.  
> But you never know, I might bring back the character or not. Depends how I feel.  
> I also suck at figuring out what to use for Lucky Charms. That's why this chapter took so long for me to write. And I don't know if I'll introduce the others power. I kinda wanted to wait until the series returns to figure it out. Only a month away guys, so yay! But if we don't get anything, I'll try and look stuff up or maybe throw in some suggestions for me.  
> I do hope you enjoy the story though and thank you for pushing me to continue. I wasn't expecting to get the reaction this story is getting. So thank you so much.


	5. Maybe This Wasn't Such A Good Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has doubts about telling Cat Noir the truth.

It may have been a while since she had fought an akuma. Marinette remembered that there were times when the akuma was difficult to battle and it took much longer than she'd like and other times it could be done in a snap. This one, however, while it did take a while, Disastifier hadn't been too difficult. Maybe she had been more of a warning that their old foe had returned.

While it did give off that message, she really hoped his akuma attacks wouldn't bee too frequent or take up too much of her time. She wasn't a teenager anymore, only having to worry about balancing school and hero work. Now she was running her own business and raising her own child. While she did have friends and family who would be willing to assist her with anything, she didn't want to take them for advantage. Besides, they all had lives too. Her friends had turned out to be her partners in crime fighting as well, which limited her options quite a bit. Marinette was always trying to figure out how to balance her life, but it wasn't just her life she had to think of anymore. She now had Emma to think about.

* * *

 

During their battle, Alya had returned Emma home and babysat. As much as she wanted to join them in fighting an akuma, she knew well enough that they couldn't beat it without Ladybug and Cat Noir. Knowing her friend, Marinette would've been so conflicted between being a superhero and being a mother. Besides, Alya loved quality time with Emma.

 

“I see papa.” Emma clapped.

 

“Did you now?” Alya raised an eyebrow, leaning besides her playpen. “Bet he kicked akuma butt today.” She wished she got to see them back in battle, but there were more important matters. Although, her Ladyblog might need some footage. Here's hoping Nino did get something while he was busy saving people from the akuma.

 

She heard a thump coming from the balcony and found her best friend entering. Her transformation died as soon as she had landed and the first thing she did was run to her daughter.

 

“Emma, are you okay?” Marinette said as she lifted her daughter and held her in her arms, examining for any kind of injury.

 

“I sure feel the trust.” Alya said sarcastically. “Mari, you were the one who was out there in the field. Emma was way safer here with me. And I made sure no scratch went on her.” Alya assured, tickling the child on her stomach to make her laugh.

 

“Sorry.” Marinette said. “It's just...we haven't had any akuma attacks in ages and Emma was never around during them. I don't know how to be a mom and be Ladybug at the same time. I never got the chance to and I honestly didn't think I'd need to.”

 

Seeing her friend was about to stress out, Alya carefully pulled Emma out of her arms. “We knew Hawk Moth would return eventually.”

 

“But did it have to be so soon? It might not even be safe to tell Cat Noir about Emma.”

 

“Woah! Don't tell me you're getting second thoughts about telling Cat Noir?” Alya questioned.

 

“If I tell him, it might be dangerous for both Emma and him.” Marinette argued.

 

“How?”

 

“We kept our identities secret because Hawk Moth was a threat.” Marinette reminded. “We didn't tell each other until way after we were sure Hawk Moth wouldn't be releasing anymore akumas. For all we know, he might be listening when we're transformed and he'll know exactly who to go after to get to us.”

 

Why did Hawk Moth have to ruin things? Alya saw Marinette's point of view, but Cat Noir also deserved to know both his own daughter and the mother of his child. The only safe way for them to reveal each other would be if they were out of costume, but they were still figuring out if Adrien really was Cat Noir. Without a one hundred percent guarantee it was risky.

 

Putting Emma down, Alya joined Marinette on the couch that she had sat on a minute ago. “Look, I know you're worried and I'm pretty sure apart of you is a bit relieved that Hawk Moth came back so you could have an excuse to not tell Cat. And don't give me that look, I know you better than anyone.” she said when Marinette was about to protest. She really was afraid to tell him the truth. Last time she tried to tell him, he disappeared for three years. “Cat has to know. It's his child too and he has a right to know that he has a two year old daughter who really wants to know who her father is. One day, those dolls and stories you tell won't be enough for her.”

 

Marinette groaned as she rubbed her face. “I really don't know what to do. It's a risk to tell him, but he should've been the first to know.”

 

“I'm sure you'll do what's right.” Alya patted her back.

 

“By right, you mean tell him?” Marinette shook her head.

 

“You got it.” Alya winked. “I better check on Nino. I bet he can't wait to tell me how _he_ beat the akuma today.” she said making air quotation gestures. Marinette laughed at that.

 

The woman exited the apartment and went down the stairs, she found Adrien at the door, about to ring the bell.

 

“Alya?” he blinked. “What are you doing here?”

 

Apparently that had been the wrong question to ask as the woman looked offended.

 

“My best friend happens to live here and I was making sure she was okay after today's events.” she crossed her arms. “And what about you?” she eyed him.

 

“Ahh...same as you.” he rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I was worried about Marinette and Emma.” he added when he saw looking at him questionably.

 

“I'll have you know, they're fine. And thanks for worrying about the rest of us.” she added. When she saw his face, she held her hand up. “Relax. I'm just messing with you. Although, I am curious why Marinette and Emma's wellbeing is your top priority. Care to explain?”

 

Adrien remained silent. He didn't exactly have an answer as to why his first thought after beating the akuma was to check on the two. All he knew was that once the fight was over he had to make sure they were okay. He hadn't seen them since he dropped them off somewhere safe from all the danger. It'd just be reassuring to know they got home safe and from the looks of it, it seemed they were safe at home.

 

“I was with them during the akuma attack and then I lost track of them. I just wanted to make sure they got out okay.” that was partly true.

 

“Probably lost them when Cat Noir swept them away.”

 

“How'd you know that?” he suddenly said.

 

Alya was confused by his outburst. “She told me. Do you know something?”

 

Realising what he said, he quickly cleared his throat. “No reason. I just...saw him with them and didn't know you know.” he chuckled nervously.

 

“Well, you're welcome to see for yourself how they're doing. Emma's probably due for a nap. So don't make too much noise.” she walked passed him after letting him in through the door.

 

She was sure the others would be interested to know his reaction about Marinette being saved by their favourite black cat.

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette had figured Chloe had come back. But it was her night to patrol and so it couldn't be her. Alya had just left and so she wasn't sure who could be visiting at this hour. They were even knocking on the apartment door. Only her, Chloe, Alya and Nino had keys to the apartment.

 

She approached the door cautiously after a few knocks.

 

“Marinette, it's me.” she heard Adrien's muffled voice through the door.

 

How did he get in? Alya did just leave and maybe she let him in. She opened the door and saw the face of her old high school crush.

 

“Alya let me in.” he told her.

 

“Figured.” she shrugged lightly. “So what are you doing here?”

 

“I came to see how you were doing after what happened.” he said. “You and Emma.”

 

“We're both fine.” she assured. “I was actually about to put Emma down for bed.”

 

They both awkwardly stood in the doorway. Adrien wanted to ask if he could come in, but he had to see Ladybug later and didn't want to be rude and leave her while they were in the middle of doing something. By something he meant talking.

 

“I'm glad you two are okay.” he nodded. “Maybe next time we could go out without any interruptions?” he thought.

 

“I..I guess. But there's no guarantee something won't happen.” she pointed out.

 

“Then we better enjoy the moments when we can.” he winked and in Cat Noir fashion he bowed and pressed his lips on the back of her hand. “I'll see you around, Princess.”

 

Marinette was surprised by his actions. They strongly reminded her of Cat Noir, but as always, she dismissed the idea. It was just way too good to be true. Not to mention the fact that if it were true, it meant she had turned him down countless times and she just couldn't imagine herself ever turning Adrien down. So she settled with them being two completely different people. She was going to see Cat Noir later anyway and maybe she was just seeing him in someone else because of what was happening. She was still on debate about it, but tonight might be the night Cat Noir finally learns about Emma.

 

Adrien caught the slight blush on her face and smiled a bit. But as she remained silent, his smile began to falter. Marinette did finally say something and his smile returned.

 

“Yeah, count moments to make...I mean, make the moments count.” she jumbled her words. She couldn't be back to this phase again? She'd grown out of that and now he was bringing it back and when he was reminding her of Cat. “I better get Emma to bed. She's had a big day and if I don't put her down now, she'll be up all night talking about it.” Marinette joked. “See you around, Adrien.” she smiled and closed the door.

 

He stood in front of her door for a moment. He could knock again and ask to stay for a few. But he really did need to meet up with Ladybug. Whatever she needed to tell him was clearly important. First he'd feed Plagg and then meet up with his teammate.

 

* * *

 

Chloe had said she'd cut her patrol short and watch Emma in order for Marinette to meet up with Cat. She cradled the sleeping girl in her arms.

 

“What am I gonna do, kitten?” she questioned. “You deserve a father and I want you to have one in your life. But it just seems dangerous right now. Hawk Moth's back and I can't put both of you in danger. I should do what your Aunt Alya said and just tell him. Rip it off like a bandaid.” she said figuratively. “But if I don't tell him, he might run off again and I'd have blown my chance again. Blown your chance to have your daddy in your life. I don't know what will happen..”

 

Marinette let out a breath and gently placed her daughter down. She'd have to settle with the consequences of whatever choice she made. In the end she had to think of Emma. Her daughter came first, no matter what.

 

As expected, Chloe arrived and Marinette took over. She transformed outside of Emma's room and Chloe gave her a good luck before she left.

 

This was it.

 

* * *

 

 

It was already dark, but Cat didn't need to wait long for his lady to arrive. He heard her yo-yo as it pulled on buildings and he soon saw her swinging towards their planned location.

 

“First we fight an akuma together and now we're having a date in the moonlight.” he smirked.

 

Ladybug simply smiled and shook her head. Typical Cat.

 

“Don't get use to it.” she told him.

 

“Aww, my lady.” he pouted.

 

“It's good to see you.” Ladybug smiled.

 

“As you.” he bowed and kissed her hand. For a moment she had a flashback of when Adrien done it to her not too long ago. Maybe he'd been studying Cat's moves?

 

“What did you want to talk about? Something tells me it's not about catching up on the missing years.”

 

“More or less.” Ladybug shrugged.

 

Judging from her posture, Ladybug was nervous about something. “Ladybug?” he approached her sympathetically.

 

With a deep breath, Ladybug looked away before telling him. “I was going to tell you before you left. But then you got mad and I just never ended up telling you.”

 

He kinda hoped she hadn't brought up that night. He figured it would come up, but he had been seriously wishing it wouldn't. He wanted to forget that night altogether. “And you still want to tell me.”

 

Ladybug nodded. “If you had let me explain, you would've understood why I had to stop fighting for a while.”

 

She was right about that. He had automatically jumped to conclusions that night. Not once did he let her say anything and had just run off. But not this time. He'd let her finish what she had to say. But that was ages ago now. Could it still really affect her now?

 

“I'm listening now.” Cat said, this time, giving her his full attention.

 

This was it. Ladybug nervously bit her lip. “Remember that night we had sometime before the fight?”

 

When he gave the indication he remembered, she continued. “Turns out there had been one consequence of that night we you know?. But don't worry.” she quickly assured. “Not a bad one. At least I don't think so.” Ladybug paused for a moment. “I got pregnant.” she quickly said that Cat almost didn't catch it, but he did take his time processing what she had just said.

 

“I spent months looking for you and when you didn't show, I just assumed you were gone for good. I kept hoping you'd just show up one day. You didn't. Not until now, anyway.”

 

Cat hadn't said anything and it was starting to make Ladybug worried. His expression didn't help her either. He looked way to stunned, like he forgot how to breathe.

 

Currently going through the feline hero's mind was that Ladybug had been pregnant. Pregnant with his child. Their fight was three years ago and that meant, if he did the math right, he currently left Ladybug to raise their what he figured would now be a toddler alone. How could he be so stupid? She had been trying to tell him, but as soon as she mentioned that night they had and he saw her reaction, he had assumed the worse and figured she thought it was all a mistake. He didn't know if she did think it was a mistake, but either way, if Cat had just let her speak then he would've known and never have left Paris in the first place.

 

“Cat please say something.” Ladybug said, snapping him from his thoughts.

 

“I don't get it.” he shook his head. “I swore I used protection.” it was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

 

She raised an eyebrow at him. She just told him they had a child together and he was concerned about a freaking condom? “Ahh...they don't always work.” she stated.

 

He should've known that. Right now he was just too busy processing all this information.

 

“I was going to tell you when I heard you came back, but with Hawk Moth back, I think it might be better you don't know too much.”

 

Hearing that, he got over his shock. Was she keeping him out of their child's life? Well, she did say that in a way. “Hold on, you're not keeping me out of their life?”

 

Ladybug shook her head. “No. You have every right to be apart of their life, but you need to understand how dangerous it could be if Hawk Moth found out. It's not just our identities we have to protect now. It'll be dangerous.”

 

“You can't expect me to wait years. I can't miss anymore.” he argued.

 

“I know. I promise I'll tell you eventually. We just need to take care of Hawk Moth first.”

 

“And how long will that take?”

 

He did raise a fair point. There was no way of knowing how long it would take to fight and defeat Hawk Moth once and for all. It might be years and that meant he might miss even more of Emma's life.

 

“Give me till their next birthday.” she reasoned. “Whether or not we defeat Hawk Moth, I'll tell you.”

 

“And that'd be when?”

 

“You'll know when I tell you.” She wasn't going to give him major details. But luckily they still had a few months before Emma's third birthday. She was determined to have the threat of Hawk Moth gone by then. She just had to think of it as motivation to beat him.

 

“Can you at least tell me one thing about them? I don't even know if it's a girl or a boy?” She could at least give him one thing about their child. He was still technically the father. Not to mention, the last thing he wanted was to be like his own father. To be one, but not even be part of their life. Hopefully this arrangement wouldn't be too long. She did say till their next birthday, so there was that. He didn't know when that was, but it would have to be soon. Maybe even sooner if they manage to beat Hawk Moth.

 

Ladybug debated if she should tell him something. One thing wouldn't be much of a risk. Besides, it wouldn't narrow it much for anyone. She walked passed him and readied her yo-yo.

 

“Her name's Emma.” she told him and instead of waiting for his response, she zipped out and headed home.

 

If she had turned around she would've seen how wide his eyes had gotten. Ladybug said their child...daughter's name was Emma. If it had been any other name he might not have been having his current reaction and thoughts. Aside from being their daughter's name, Emma was also the name of Marinette's daughter and she currently didn't have any father in her life. Is it possible Marinette didn't tell anyone about Emma's father because she technically couldn't. Well, she could, but the Ladybug he knew was always careful when it came it to identities and she may have been protecting not only herself, but her daughter too. Who was he kidding, that was what exactly she'd do.

 

There was also a chance it was just a huge coincidence, that Ladybug and Marinette had the same taste in names. Emma was a common name. And if he got attached to her, then it would be a betrayal to both Ladybug and his Emma. Still, if they were one in the same, he could get to know her before time.

 

Cat figured he'd have to find out as much as he could before he could try anything. Tomorrow he was going to pay a certain woman and her daughter a visit. He was going to get to the bottom of this and if it meant breaking Ladybug's rule about secret identities, he'd face the consequences. He just had to be sure.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this chapter done for ages, but because I had no internet for the past several weeks, I couldn't post it. But here it is now and enjoy!


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